Meru – A young woman from Meru County has opened up about a painful fallout with her parents, accusing them of taking away her academic certificates and demanding money before returning them.
Elsie Kendi, now in her mid-20s, described a childhood filled with strict rules and what she calls emotional and physical abuse.
She recalled being punished harshly for small mistakes and pressured to perform well in school. According to her, failure meant threats from her father that he would stop paying her fees.
Despite the challenges, Kendi excelled in her studies, passed her secondary school exams, and joined university. It was while in her third year that she met a young man she says treated her with more care than her parents ever did.
The relationship did not sit well with her family.
At 21, Kendi had already begun earning through online work and felt independent enough to make her own choices.
Tensions with her parents escalated when she rejected their financial offers and eventually moved out to live near her boyfriend.
The situation worsened when her parents involved the police, claiming she was underage.
After proving her age, Kendi went back to her rented room only to discover all her belongings gone. Neighbours told her her parents had broken in earlier that day and taken everything, including her certificates.
“When I called my mother to ask for my papers, she told me I had to give them KSh 250,000 before she would release them. I was only 21 and had no such money,” Kendi said.
She claimed her father even reached out to her boyfriend’s family, insisting they should be compensated for educating her.
After years of struggle and with help from the police, she eventually managed to recover the certificates four years later.
Kendi says she has since cut ties with her parents. Attempts at reconciliation, including an effort to introduce her in-laws, failed.
She recalled her father warning her never to return home and predicting she would never find happiness.
By Newsmedia